Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

222 reviews

ukponge's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0


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dhutton1997's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Read TW before reading this book. 
This was a fantastic book that delved into what a woman’s body and mind is worth without the opportunities brought to them through a patriarchal society. 

My only critique of this book is that Ratajkowski seemed to liken herself as “not rich” like the billionaires she meets. However, she does have a lot of money and will be able to live comfortably if she chooses to do so. I wish she would have acknowledged that aspect of her privilege. 

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hannaheliz's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5


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ntvenessa's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

2.5

Fascinating and incisive, but doesn't push quite far enough. Ratajkowski distills so well what it means to capitalise off your image by leveraging the male gaze. There are power dynamics and tension underlying her relationship with her own body as a result of selling her image in a landscape where beauty is defined by a white, cis-hetero patriarchy. This collection of essays is deeply personal and generous, although the temporal context is sometimes confusing to follow. There does some to be a deliberate shying away from what her work means to other women, especially young girls, who are subject to the beauty standards she reinforces. This shortsightedness is laid in stark contrast with the tenacity and heart found unmistakably in the rest of her essays, particularly in her evolving relationship with her body in the context of feminism and empowerment. I really enjoyed the tender and wise reflections on her youth and how mixed messaging around her body impacted how she saw herself. However, it seems a shame not to explore further how she herself is complicit in upholding the beauty standards that have both trapped her and lent her power (although as she writes, it is only power as bestowed on her by men and not true empowerment). I suppose when you are still capitalising off the very same system, it pays to flirt around these broader notions and keep the narrative tightly focused on the matter at hand -- and she does it well. I'd be keen to see a memoir after she leaves the industry.

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janet_snakehole13's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

An honestly written collection of essays about womanhood, beauty, power, control, and consent, or rather, lack there of.

It is deeply saddening and horrifying the sexual harrassment, assaults, and sexism Emily has endured throughout her life, and all the countless young girls and women, specifically in her industry, who are taken advantage of. Not only that, but the internalized misogyny from other women, and the blaming and shaming from the public as a whole acts as an added knife to the back after all they've  experienced.
The tales of Britney and Pamela, specifically, show that the lack of consent, power, and control that women endure in these industries are common and rampant. And sadly, it isn't limited to only these industries. It's only become more apparent there in recent years, but it is everywhere.

The discussions about her mother's subliminal messaging she received as a young girl about the importance of beauty was something I think a lot of women will relate to.
The essay titled "buying myself back" about ownership of her body and images of her was eye-opening. I listened to the audiobook recorded by Emily herself, and her voice breaks as she poignantly says "Eventually Jonathan will run out of the unseen, crusty polaroids, but I will remain as the real Emily, the Emily who owns the high art Emily, and the one who wrote this essay too. She will continue to carve out control."
In "men like you" she mentions muses whose likeness fills the halls of museums. Women whose life and names we do not know or choose to not remember. With this collection of essays, Emily tells her story through her own voice. "I will proclaim all of my mistakes and contradictions, for all the women who cannot do so, for all the women we've called muses without learning their names whose silence we mistook for consent. I stood on their shoulders to get here." 

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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

4.0

autobiography of a famous female model. She discusses her relationship to her body and how society and modeling have shaped it.

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honestlysean's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Having seen the praise and hype surrounding this book, I had high expectations that were not merely met, but exceeded. Ratajkowski, known primarily as a model and actress, should feel more than welcome to add writer to her resume with this gorgeous, confident debut.

Her writing is painfully honest, reflective, and forthright. Essay topics range from a haunting meditation her mother's terminal illness to a biting open letter to a man who discounted her as nothing but a piece of meat to sell products. Every time I had started an essay, I found myself thinking "Wow, surely this will be my favorite of the collection", only to continue expressing that after each essay. 

In this collection that tackles sexism and double standards, feminism and sexuality, and the general absurdity that comes with being a recognized public persona, Emily Ratajhowski puts her foot in the ring as a writer to look out for. This book does not just hold its own against those written by established authors, but finds itself within the same realm. 

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mrettaxe's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0


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miapalas's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

2.0


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